Friday, January 30, 2026 - The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barrister Nyesom Wike has applied for an order of the National Industrial Court to commit the striking workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to prison over their alleged disobedience to order of the court.
The disobedience to order of court by the workers arose from
resumption of their strike despite an order of the court issued on January 27
stopping the strike until the determination of the suit instituted against them
by the FCT Minister.
To demonstrate his opposition against the workers for
treating order of the Industrial Court with levity, the FCT Minister has
obtained form 48, a legal document of court, which spelt out the consequences
of violating order of court, to be served on the striking workers.
The form 48 was obtained by a legal luminary, Dr Ogwu James
Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) of the Bar and Bench Chambers in
Abuja on behalf of Wike to compel the workers to obey order of court or be
committed to jail as stipulated by law.
The form 48 is titled “Notice of Consequence of disobedience
of order of Court” and would be followed with contempt charges.
It reads, “Take note that unless you obey the directions
contained in the order of Honourable Justice E. D Sublimi of the National
Industrial Court of Nigeria delivered 27th day of January 2026, you will be
guilty of the contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison “.
The notice of consequence of disobedience of order of Court
dated January 29 was signed by the Registrar of the Industrial Court, Mr
Olajide Balogun.
Justice Emmanuel Danjuma Sublimi of the National Industrial
Court had on January 27 ordered workers of the Federal Capital Territory
Administration (FCTA) to suspend their industrial action pending the hearing
and determination of the originating summons issued against them by the FCT
Minister.
The order of the Judge followed an application by the FCT
Minister through Ogwu James Onoja SAN in which he sought an order of court
compelling the striking FCTA workers to return to work.
In the suit, the FCT Minister had listed the President and
the Secretary of the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC) Rifkatu Iortyer and
Abdullahi Umar Saleh as respondents.
Justice Subilim had held that industrial action, including
strikes, must be suspended once a dispute has been referred to the National
Industrial Court.
Citing Section 18(1)E of the Trade Dispute Act, the court
had noted that the suspension ensured the dispute was properly resolved, and
that ongoing strikes must halt upon the commencement of a suit by originating
summons, which constitutesu a referral.
The judge had further stated that failure to comply with
Section 18 of the Act may attract sanctions.
He emphasized that the public interest in maintaining
industrial peace outweighs any inconvenience caused by suspending the strike.
However, four days after the order of the court was served
on them, the workers have yet to respect or obey it.
Although the striking workers predicated their resumption of
strike on the notice of appeal filed at the Court of Appeal against the ruling
of Justice Sublimi, Wike’s legal team rejected the claim.
The legal team of Onoja SAN maintained that unless there is
an express order of court staying the execution of Industrial Court ruling, the
workers have no basis to resume the strike and advised them to be law abiding
citizens avoid incurring the wrath of court.
According to the senior lawyer in the court papers “Court
orders are not made in vain. They are made to be obeyed for sanity to prevail
in the society”.
It will be recalled that after granting the restraining
order against the strike action, Justice Sublimi adjourned the substantive
matter to March 25, 2026, for hearing.
The workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration
and the Federal Capital Development Authority had on January 19 commenced an
industrial action, shutting down activities across Abuja, over what they
described as “unmet demands” by the Federal Government.
The strike affected all FCTA Secretariats, Departments,
agencies, Area Councils and parastatals under FCTA.
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